A former NBA All-Star sends a letter to the GMs to return to the league

Victor Oladipo does not give up. At 34 years old and after several years marked by severe injuries, the two-time NBA All-Star has sent a direct message to the general managers of the league asking for a new opportunity.

The former number 2 pick of the 2013 Draft posted an open letter on The Players' Tribune in which he asserts that he still has high-level basketball to offer and is ready to prove it. “I believe my body is finally okay. I think I still have GREAT basketball ahead of me, and more importantly, winning basketball. I believe I can be a valuable player in an NBA locker room. And what I’m asking for right now is a chance to prove it.”

Oladipo has not played an NBA game since April 2023, when he suffered a rupture of the patellar tendon in his left knee during his time with the Miami Heat. That injury marked another blow to a career that had already been seriously affected by physical problems.

In 2019, the player had suffered a rupture of the quadriceps tendon in his right knee. Since then, he has not been able to play more than 42 games in a single NBA season.

His last opportunity came in the G League

Rather than giving up, Oladipo continued to work towards returning to elite status. Last season he played 26 games with the Wisconsin Herd, the G League team affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists.

Additionally, during the Summer League in Las Vegas held last July, the shooting guard organized a private workout in front of members from different NBA teams. His goal was to clear up any doubts that still exist about his physical condition and to demonstrate that he can compete at the highest level again.

Now he hopes that one of the teams in the league decides to take a chance on him.

“I want my daughter to see this version of me”

In his letter, Oladipo also explained that one of his greatest motivations for trying to return to the NBA is his daughter Naomi, whom he affectionately calls “Nomi.”

The player wants her to see in her father's effort an example for facing the tough moments in life. “It’s this version, right now, that I want Nomi to see.”

Oladipo acknowledged that his daughter is still very young, but he hopes that one day she can look back and find in his story a lesson about facing adversity. “I hope this is the page she turns back to when tough times come. And I hope that when she does, she realizes that she is strong like her father, but also that she can show vulnerability like her father.”

For Oladipo, showing vulnerability is not incompatible with being strong. On the contrary: he believes that accepting what one feels is also part of that strength.

10 seasons and two All-Stars

Before injuries changed the course of his career, Oladipo became one of the best perimeter players in the NBA. In his 10 seasons in the league, he has averaged 16.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.

His best period came particularly with the Indiana Pacers, where he was selected two times for the All-Star and made it to the All-NBA Third Team in 2018.

Now, several years after his last NBA game, he is trying to write a new chapter.

“I don’t know how my journey here will end,” Oladipo admitted. “Maybe some team will give me a chance. Maybe no team will. That really depends on you.”

And he closed his letter with a phrase that perfectly sums up his relationship with basketball: “I can always promise you one thing about my basketball story: from the first page to the last. It’s a love story.”

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Un ex All-Star NBA manda una carta a los GM para volver a la liga